The Indian Primer, by John Eliot (1669), has been digitised into 137 high resolution images by our Digital Imaging Unit within The University of Edinburgh Library and Collections.

This tiny book contains Christian instruction, mainly in the native American Algonquian language. Printing began in America in 1640 and was used by missionary John Eliot, who translated the Bible and many other works into the native language for the first time. Amazingly, this copy is still in its original American wooden binding. It was gifted to the University Library in 1675 by James Kirkton.

Digitised images in this collection are licensed CC BY 4.0.

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Header Image: Portion of title page from The Indian Primer, The University of Edinburgh, CC BY 4.0